Action Alert: Tell Your Federal Rep. To Join The Cannabis Caucus

This morning I received my ‘Daily Tom Angell Report’ via e-mail. For those that aren’t in the know, legendary activist Tom Angell launched a new daily e-mail which is PACKED with outstanding marijuana information. He hasn’t came up with an official name for the daily e-mail, and is right now calling it the ‘Generic Marijuana Newsletter.’ I will likely continue to refer to it as the ‘Daily Tom Angell Report’ but nominations to name the newsletter are being accepted. Regardless of the name, if you are serious about marijuana reform and knowledge, I strongly urge you to sign up for it.

In the Daily Tom Angell Report there was an action alert, urging subscribers to put pressure on their Representatives to join the newly formed Cannabis Caucus. Below is more information about the Cannabis Caucus, per Decode DC:

“There needs to be more strategy between us, those of us who are engaged in this. More of a long-term strategy,” Rohrabacher told DecodeDC . “[And] we need to have a vehicle in which people on the outside will be able to work through and sort of have a team effort from the inside and the outside.”

Rohrabacher says Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is likely to emerge as the spokesman for the caucus, which he said will begin meeting in January.

Marijuana Majority has a great action tool which helps you send a message to your federal Representative urging them to join the Cannabis Caucus. The upcoming session in Congress is likely to see some rough waters in regards to marijuana policy, and urging Representatives to fight for sensible marijuana policy is as important now as ever. Do your part, and go to Marijuana Majority’s action tool and send a message to your Representative urging them to add their voice and efforts to the Cannabis Caucus.

The world hasn't come to an end. U.S. Representative Ed Perlmutter was told it would when Colorado voters legalized recreational marijuana use in November 2012 and he started introducing legislation in Congress that would aid the industry as businesses began to struggle with banking problems, among other issues.

Now, as President Donald Trump takes the oath of office, Perlmutter says he's not finished fighting for marijuana legalization at the federal level. Perlmutter's Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act was struck down last summer. Had it passed, it would have banned federal regulators from penalizing financial institutions for providing banking services to legal marijuana businesses; Perlmutter is planning to try again this session.

On the eve of the inauguration, we spoke with Perlmutter about how he plans to work with the Republican-held House to get that legislation passed, picked his brain about Jeff Sessions's appointment as attorney general, and discussed the DEA's new rule for marijuana extracts.

Westword: Last summer, your legislation that would have banned federal regulations from penalizing financial institutions for providing banking services to legal marijuana businesses was struck down. This is still a major issue confronting the industry in Colorado and around the country. Are you hoping to tackle the problem again in the upcoming legislative session?

Representative Ed Perlmutter: I've sponsored legislation since about 2013, after we legalized it, on access to banking. The main reason is if a state has...either medical marijuana or fully legalized marijuana and then has a regulatory structure in place, they ought to be able to operate like any other businesses: having credit-card accounts, checking accounts, payroll accounts.

Under the federal law, that's been difficult. We don't want these businesses to accumulate a ton of cash and be the target of criminals.... There's a public-safety aspect to this, and that's really where I was coming from when I first introduced it a few years ago, and we've continued to introduce it as more states have either legalized it or added medical marijuana to their laws. So far we haven't gotten through, but we're getting there.

Do you hope to bring the issue forward again in the upcoming legislative session?

Yes, I will. I had actually spoken to a Republican colleague of mine who came up to me and wanted to be the chief sponsor and I would be the secondary sponsor. [It] would be great in a Republican Congress to get it through. Trouble is, that guy is getting appointed to the administration, so I'm going to have to go find somebody else.

I saw that you said you may join the Cannabis Caucus. Are you going to join, and if so, what do you hope to accomplish?

We want to build a bipartisan effort, because I think we're up to forty or so states that have some level of marijuana use. We want to develop the caucus and put together legislation so that state laws aren't running headlong into the federal law, and the federal law provide states the ability that if a state has a good regulatory structure in place to monitor and manage the marijuana businesses, then leave that state alone. If other states don't want it, then the federal law is in place.

[It's about] states' rights and allowing these businesses where the people have said, "We think some level of marijuana use is okay" — let those states move forward. Right now they're very contradictory. They really are in conflict, and the Obama administration, through the Cole Memo, tried to bridge this conflict a little bit by saying if a state or a marijuana business goes through a bunch of different hurdles, then we, the Obama administration and the Justice Department and the Treasury Department, we've got other things to work on, and we're not going to focus our efforts on that, but you've got to go through those hoops. From administration to administration, the memo could be followed or ignored. We could, by legislation, do the very same thing, even make it a stronger law than a memo — stronger than a guidance.

Jeff Sessions called out Congress during his confirmation hearing, saying "Congress has made the possession of marijuana in every state an illegal act" and that "If that is not desired any longer, Congress should pass a law to change it. It's not the Attorney General's job to decide which laws to enforce." With your background in bringing marijuana legislation to the floor, are you going to work with the Cannabis Caucus to try to change the laws we have on the books?

He also said the Justice Department has limited resources. He was kind of being coy with his answers, but both things are true. Congress should address this. It's time. Most of the people in America live in a state where there is some level of marijuana use, and the federal law is in complete conflict with that. We need to fix that. So he's right on that point. He's also right that the justice department has limited resources. Is he going to go after violent, hard-core criminals, or is he going to go after a business that's operating legally in their state? Where does he assign his people?

So how do you see yourself working with your colleagues to address marijuana in Congress?

Well, something you brought up, the Cannabis Caucus, is a good place to develop our strategies. There are a number of pieces of legislation that have been proposed. Jared Polis has one or two pieces, a guy named Earl Blumenauer from Oregon, Dana Rohrabacher from California, Susan DelBene from Washington — so there are pieces of legislation, and what we need to do is get momentum going in Congress.

We run into a couple of problems where, say, the chairman of my financial services committee, which is the banking committee, a guy named Jeb Henarling, to this point has just been adamantly opposed to any marijuana legislation. We really have not had any hearings, but on that committee, they know it's a big issue, so if we knock on the door enough, eventually the door is going to open and we're going to get some hearings and move this.

We know that on the floor of the House, out of the 435 of us, there's a majority — about 180 Democrats, and 50 or so Republicans — to pass marijuana legislation, if we could get to the floor through the committee process. So our job is to work together to gather as much...I think it will be bipartisan support, primarily Democrats, but there are certainly Republicans who are interested in working on this, and we've got to move it forward.

I'd like to work with Kevin McCarthy from California. California just passed fully legalized marijuana and he, on behalf of his state, needs to take a good hard look at this.

The industry has been affected this past year by announcements, and non-announcements, by the DEA. Last month things changed for the medical community when the DEA issued a statement that businesses that produce products with CBD and marijuana extracts have to register with a new code. The Hoban Law Group is taking the DEA to court over that new rule, saying it is "beyond the agency's authority." What do you think of the DEA's new rule and its decision to implement this new rule instead of rescheduling marijuana, as many in the industry had hoped?

I was surprised. I thought they were going to go the other direction. They really did a kind of switcheroo. I still don't understand.

Do you think that move will have implications for you as you and your allies in Congress try to get new legislation passed?

Yes, but I'm going to try and take a positive approach from it. Now, by their newest rule, the conflict is clearly defined now. They're taking a position that marijuana is illegal — extracts, medical, whatever that might be — and they intend to enforce that, contrary to the Cole Memo and contrary to other positions they've taken, which means Congress had better address this.

So you're saying it could be a benefit?

In a backwards sort of way, yes. We've got to address it... but it's not going to be easy. We still need a hearing. We need to get something to the floor. The Senate was very steadfast in their opposition to marijuana for a long time, but they're starting to move. So both the Senate and the House really need to bring this to the floor and have hearings and allow the legislation to move forward.

I'm a little bit optimistic about it because of California's passage. The majority leader is from California, and the individual who came to me, he asked to take the lead on this, and he said, "I think we can move this." Both of those things are positive for moving this forward. It's been difficult, but we've seen some appropriations bills where we can pass amendments. We need to change the law, but at least we know there's a majority on the House floor to do something.

President-elect Trump is taking the oath of office. How do you hope to get any legislation through with the divisiveness we're seeing in Washington?

If we can get some hearings, I think we really can start moving this; chairmen in the House of Representatives are in powerful positions to move something forward or to block it. So we've got our work cut out, but...when I first started bringing this up a few years ago, people would chuckle: "Oh, it's Colorado, it's marijuana." Well, they don't chuckle about it anymore. They know it's serious business and that these businesses really do need to operate like any other business. They understand that there are benefits; the medical component of this seems to be better understood, so the chuckle factor seems to be dying away and we're seeing real debate and real conversation.

So as you're working with your colleagues to try to get a hearing and, ultimately, new legislation passed, what can voters do to help?

The California voters can certainly be in touch with their legislators. Same thing holds true for Maine and Massachusetts and Alabama. Each state that is allowing some level of marijuana use, those people, those citizens in those states, need to be in touch with their senators and their representatives as well as the White House and the potential attorney general, Jeff Sessions.

The veterans who find that medical marijuana either helps them with injuries they suffered or PTSD, the veterans' community needs to continue to speak up. They've been pretty vocal, and they've got to continue to be vocal. Those men and women who served the nation and, as a result, suffered some trauma — we need to respect them and their service and their requests. They carry a lot of political clout.

Cannabis Caucus taking charge: In time of Trump and pending arrival of AG Sessions, some marijuana-backing members of Congress are hopeful for progress

There’s optimism brewing on Capitol Hill that Congress could maintain or even accelerate marijuana legalization’s momentum in the face of rising concerns that the industry could be snuffed out federally.

Members of a newly formed bipartisan “Cannabis Caucus” are preparing to introduce a slew of legislation — including resurrecting bills from sessions’ past — and aiming to develop a united front to further congressional action on cannabis. And weeks before the official launch of the caucus, they say support is building, even amid a backdrop of uncertainty for the industry under the watch of prospective Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

“This Congress is going to be a little better than last Congress, and last Congress was better than the one before that,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, in an interview with The Cannabist. “It’s very interesting watching the momentum build.”

The co-chairs of the caucus, announced in December, include founding member Blumenauer; Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colorado; Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California; and Rep. Don Young, Alaska. Blumenauer said the group is working to broaden the participation among other congressional members.

“I’m more hopeful than ever before that we can move legislation like the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act,” Polis said, referencing legislation introduced in 2015 to remove marijuana entirely from the Controlled Substances Act, decriminalize the substance and open the doors to a nationally regulated recreational industry under the oversight of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Polis’ 2015 bill is one of 25 marijuana-related measures introduced in the past two years that likely will be revived in the coming months, Blumenauer said.

As of Monday, three of those bills have been introduced in the current session:

H.R. 331 – States’ Medical Marijuana Property Rights Protection Act (sponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-California): Prevents civil asset forfeiture for property owners of state-sanctioned medical marijuana facilities.
H.R. 714 – Legitimate Use of Medicinal Marihuana Act, or LUMMA (sponsored by Rep. H. Morgan Griffith, R-Virginia): Moves marijuana to Schedule II on the Controlled Substances Act and provides that no provision of the CSA or Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act could prohibit the prescription/recommendation, use, transport, possession, manufacture or distribution under state law in states with medical marijuana regulations.
H.R. 715 – Compassionate Access Act (sponsored by Griffith): To provide for “the rescheduling of marihuana, the medicinal use of marihuana in accordance with state law and the exclusion of cannabidiol from the definition of marihuana, and for other purposes.” The bill, which includes language on research, also would not allow CBD to be treated as a controlled substance.

Blumenauer said another key plan of action will be passing amendments similar to the Rohrabacher-Farr Medical Marijuana Amendment, which restricted U.S. Department of Justice funds from being used to interfere with state-based legal operations.

Marijuana-friendly members had to do that during the Obama administration and they’re going to have to do the same during the Trump administration, he added.

It can be argued that greater uncertainty for the cannabis industry exists in the latter, however. While President Donald Trump had indicated on the campaign trail that he valued states’ rights and would not interfere in the business of legal recreational or medical marijuana states, the prospective attorney general has expressed negative views toward cannabis users and legalization in the recent past.

“This is a struggle and will continue to be, but this is something where I honestly don’t think the new administration, which has probably enough controversy on its hands, is going to knowingly pick a fight with what, almost without exception, was approved by local voters,” Blumenauer said.

The playing field was widened significantly last year, when public opinion on marijuana legalization reached record levels and eight of nine statewide marijuana legalization measures passed during the 2016 election, Blumenauer said.

The legalization train has left the station, he said.

“It’s easier for people to embrace much of what we’re doing legislatively,” he said, adding that it’s mere “housekeeping” to address issues such as breaking down barriers to research and allowing state-legal businesses to deduct their operating expenses.

It may be easier, but it’s not a sure thing, Blumenauer said. Some legislators are not rushing to embrace legalization in recreational or medical form, he added.

Sessions, when asked about marijuana during his Jan. 10 confirmation hearing, did not indicate what direction he might go on the issue, stating that he “won’t commit to never enforcing federal law,” but added that enforcement direction “is a problem of resources for the federal government.”

He later said that:

“I think one obvious concern is that the United States Congress has made the possession of marijuana in every state and distribution of it an illegal act. If that something is not desired any longer, Congress should pass the law to change the rule.

“It’s not so much the attorney general’s job to decide what laws to enforce. We should do our job and enforce laws effectively as we’re able.”

Polis said he’s worried about Sessions’ approach to the industry, given his past statements; but he noted that, ultimately, Sessions will work for Trump and “we need to make the case directly to Trump” about the marijuana industry’s economic and job-creation benefits as well as investing and research opportunities.

“Until (the underlying federal law is addressed), the industry exists really at the discretion of the president and the attorney general, and it’s a dangerous place to be,” Polis said.

Reps. Rohrabacher and Young were not immediately available for comment.

Representatives Dana Rohrabacher (CA-48), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Don Young (AK-At Large), and Jared Polis (CO-02) on Thursday, February 16, will hold a press conference to discuss the role of the newly formed Cannabis Caucus and the future of cannabis policy.

Increasingly, federal cannabis laws are out of touch with American voters. Following the November election, 95 percent of Americans now live in states or territories that permit, to varying degrees, legal access to medical marijuana and/or cannabis derivatives. Additionally, a fifth of all Americans now live in a state with legal access to the adult use of marijuana. It’s time for Congress to catch up.

WHAT:

Cannabis Caucus co-chairs Rohrabacher, Blumenauer, Young, and Polis to hold a press conference to launch the Congressional Cannabis Caucus and to discuss the future of cannabis policy.

Amid widespread uncertainty about how the Trump administration will handle state-legal cannabis, a group of federal lawmakers on Thursday announced the formation of a Congressional Cannabis Caucus. The bipartisan group hopes to validate the nation’s burgeoning cannabis industry and encourage a more harmonious relationship between states and the federal government.

With dozens of issue-specific caucuses scattered throughout Congress, on everything from chicken to dyslexia, a caucus on cannabis is not a far-fetched idea. Some might even say it’s overdue.

“We are trying to make sure that we bring the marijuana issue to Washington, up to the next level,” Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), a founding member of the caucus, told Leafly. “We’ve been very successful the last three or four years in establishing the states’ rights argument and recruiting a coalition behind that argument, [with] a majority of states supporting legal medical marijuana.”

Along with Rohrabacher, other caucus co-founders include Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore., pictured above), Jared Polis (D-Colo.), and Don Young (R-Alaska).

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